Apparatus for mixing pulverulent material with liquid



United States Patent Inventor Charles D. Barron Huntington Beach, California Appl. No. 757,976 Filed Sept. 6, 1968 Patented Nov. 24, 1970 Assignee Byron Jackson Inc.

Long Beach, California a corporation of Delaware APPARATUS FOR MIXING PULVERULENT Primary Examiner-Robert W. Jenkins Atlorneys- Donald W. Banner, Lyle S. Motley, C. G. Stallings and William S. McCurry ABSTRACT: An apparatus having no moving parts and wherein powder or pulverulent material is mixed with liquid in a nozzle device in which the mixing operation is assisted by a MATERIAL WITH LIQUID 5 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

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57 4@ a/ as 22 3 Z 3% m- WW1: V V 5 a {22 45 we .L- -J 49 65 Patented Nov. 24, 1970 Sheet L of 2 INVENTOR 07446465 0. fiABEd/V ATTOE/WEV APPARATUS FOR MIXING PULVERULENT MATERIAL WITH LIQUID FIELD OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a method and to apparatus for mixing pulverulent material with a liquid. The apparatus is especially useful in making up drilling muds, or the addition to drilling muds of small quantities of powdered materials or chemicals.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION verulent material with liquid which includes nozzle means for forming an annular stream of liquid; a nozzle for concurrently introducing pulverulent material into the lumen of the annular stream; and a gas jet in the nozzle for blowing pulverulent materials from the nozzle into the lumen.

In its method aspect, the invention resides in a method of mixing pulverulent material with liquid which includes establishing an annular stream of liquid; and blowing pulverulent material into the lumen of the annular stream.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a mixing device in accordance with the-invention together with associated equipment, with parts broken away to show interior construction.

FIG. 2 is an axial sectional view on an enlarged scale of the mixing device shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIG. 2 and looking in the direction of the arrows. I

DESCRIPTIONOF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring to the drawings, particularly to FIG. 1 there is shown apparatus in accordance with the invention including a conical hopper containing powdered material 11 to be mixed with a liquid. The hopper has a cover 12 and an inlet pipe 13 through which the powdered material is introduced intothe hopper. The powdered material may be conveyed into the hopper by a stream of air flowingthrough the pipe 13.

At the bottom ofthe hopper 10 is a feeder 14 which meters dry material from the hopper into a'discharge pipe 15. Materibottom of the injection nozzle 28 terminates in a feathered edge 34.

A liquid injection nozzle surrounds the powdered material injection nozzle 28 and is coaxial with the latter: The nozzle 35 has an upper cylindrical section 36, the top of which is received in a circular groove 37 recessed in the lower face of the top plate 27. The upper section joins a downwardly tapering, generally conical intermediate section 38 that has approximately the same angle of taper as the intermediate portion 32 of the nozzle 28. The liquid injection nozzle 35 terminates at its lower end in a cylindrical outlet portion 39.

The outlet portion 39 extends through an opening 41 in a circular bottom plate 42 which is supported from the top plate 27 by a cylindrical housing member 43. A liquid inlet fitting 44 admits liquid into a pressure chamber 45 within the cylindrical housing member 43.

A plurality of windows or fluid passageways 46 are provided in the upper section of the liquid injection nozzle 35. Liquid flows through these windows from the pressure chamber 45 into the downwardly tapering liquid flow annulus 47 between the nozzles 28 and 35.

The gas supply line 22 extends radially through openings in the cylindrical housing member 43, the liquid injection nozzle 35, and the powdered material injection nozzle 28, and is bent downwardly at its inner end to provide an axially extending terminal section 48. The terminal section is threaded at 49 to accept a gas jet 51 having a nozzle 52 for directing a stream of gas axially down through the powdered material injection noz' zle 28 and out through its throat 33, and through the outlet portion 39 of the liquid injection nozzle 35.

A pipe nipple 53 is welded to the underside of the bottom plate 42. This nipple surrounds the outlet portion 39 of the liquid injection nozzle 35 and is coaxial therewith. The nipple has a sleeve member 54 threaded to it. A slugging nozzle 55 having a restricted outlet portion 56 at its lower end is threaded to the bottom of the sleeve member 54. This structure provides a mixing chamber 57 intermediate the outlet portion 39 and the restricted outlet 56 of the slugging nozzle 55.

The operation of the apparatus shown in the drawings will now be described, by way of example, with reference to the al is metered from the hopper by a star wheel 16 turned by a shaft 17. The feeder is of a type well known in the art and need not be described herein in further detail. j

The discharge pipe 15 has a downwardly tapering terminal portion 18 to which is attached a mixing device designated by the general reference numeral 19. Solid particulate material is introduced into the mixing device from the tapered portion 18 ofthe discharge pipe. Liquid with which the powdered material is to be mixed is introduced through a liquid'supply line 21. Air or other gas is fed to the mixing device by a'gas supply line 22 under control ofa valve 23. 4

Referring now to FIGS. 2 and 3, the-mixing device 19 has an upper section 24, sometimes referred to as a disperser, an intermediate section 25, sometimes referred to as a mixing chamber or tube, and a lower section 26, sometimes referred to as a slugging nozzle.

The upper section or disperser has a circular top plate 27 welded to the tapering portion 18. A powdered material injec-' tion nozzle 28 is flttedinto an opening 29 in the top plate 27. The nozzle 28 has a cylindrical top portion 31 that merges into a downwardly tapering intermediate portion 32 that, in turn, merges into a cylindrical throat or bottom portion 33. The

addition of powdered barytes, a weighting material, to drilling mud to increase its density..- ln s uch use of the equipment, the apparatus as depicted in FIG. 1 is mounted over a slugging pit, not shown, or open-topped tank containing drilling mud. The slugging nozzle 55 is directed to project the liquid mixture issuing therefrom into the slugging pit. Mud is withdrawn from the slugging pit and pumped through the liquid supply line 21 into the disperser 24 and down through the mixing device 19 back into the slugging pit in which it mixes with the pool of drilling mud contained in the pit. Compressed air from the gas supply line 22 is admitted to the gas jet 51 by opening the valve 23. The air issues from the gas jet nozzle 52 as a downwardly directed stream of gas. Powdered barytes 11,

contained in the hopper 10, is fed from the hopper by rotating the shaft 17 with its star wheel 16. The powdered barytes drops from the star wheel. as discrete particles which are guided by the tapering portion 18 into the powdered material injection nozzle 28. The particles of barytes are picked up by the gas stream issuing from the gas jet 5] and blown downwardly and out of the throat 33 of the powdered material injection nozzle.

Liquid mud from the slugging pit that is pumped through the liquid supply line 21 fills the pressure chamber 45 and passes through the windows 46 into the liquid flow annulus 47. Themud flows down the liquid flow annulus from which it emerges around the bottom edge 34 of the powdered material injection nozzle 28 as a downwardly flowing annular stream having a lumen with a diametersubstantially equal to the diameter of the bottom edge 24 of the powdered material injection nozzle 28. The outer diameter of the annular stream of mud, as can be readily visualized from a consideration of FIG. 2, is determined by and equal to the inside diameter ofthe outlet portion 39 of the liquid injection nozzle 35. Streamline flow of the annular stream of mud occurs in the zone between the bottom edge 34 of the powdered material injection nozzle 28 and the bottom of theoutlet portion 39 of the liquid injection nozzle 35. After leaving the bottom of the outlet portion 39, the annular stream of mud flows through the mixing chamber 57 wherein substantially streamline flow of the mud is changed into turbulent flow. Upon reaching and flowing through the restricted outlet 56 of the slugging nozzle, the stream of mud to a large extent reverts to streamline flow and issues from the restricted outlet as a downwardly directed high velocity stream that enters into and mixes with the pool of mud in the slugging pit below the slugging nozzle 55,

The stream of air from the gas jet 5! blows the powdered barytes with high velocity into the mud flowing past the throat of the powdered material injection nozzle and into the turbu lent stream of mud flowing through the mixing chamber 57.

The blast of air from the gas jet assists in incorporating the ,barytes into the mud. This blast or stream of air also minimizes employment of a stream of gas from the gas jet allows dry material to be introduced at low rates into the powdered material injection nozzle.

The specific apparatus shown and described herein is merely exemplary of the invention which should be construed broadly as defined in the following claims.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for mixing pulverulent material with liquid which comprises:

a. nozzle means for forming an annular stream ofliquid;

b. a nozzle for concurrently introducing pulverulent material into the lumen of said annular stream; and

c. a gas jet positioned in said nozzle and disposed to project a stream of gas out through the discharge end of said nozzle for blowing pulverulent material from said nozzle into said lumen.

2. Apparatus as defined in claim 1 including elongated, tubular mixing chamber means having an opening at one end disposed to receive the stream of liquid and pulverulent material from said nozzle means, and an orifice of reduced diameter at the opposite end for discharging the mixture of liquid and pulverulent material.

3. Apparatus for mixing pulverulent material with liquid which comprises:

a. first nozzle having a longitudinal axis and a discharge opening disposed generally transversely of said axis;

b. a second nozzle coaxial with said first nozzle and disposed around and spaced from said first nozzle to provide a liquid flow annulus between said nozzles and an annular liquid outlet for said annulus adjacent to and surrounding said discharge opening;

c. means for causing liquid to flow in said annulus and to issue from said outlet in the form of an annular stream;

d. means for admitting pulverulent material into said first nozzle; and

e. a gas jet positioned in said first nozzle and disposed to project a stream of gas out through said discharge open- -ing to carry pulverulent material from said first nozzle into the lumen of the annular stream of liquid issuing from said annular outlet, whereby the pulverulent material is mixed with the liquid.

4. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 including elongated, tu bular mixing chamber means having an opening at one end disposed to receive said stream of liquid and pulverulent material, and an orifice of reduced diameter at the opposite end for discharging the mixture of liquid and pulverulent material.

5. Apparatus as defined in claim 3 wherein said means for causing liquid to flow in said annulus and to issue from said outlet in the form of an annular stream comprises a housing having a portion surrounding said second nozzle and providing therewith a chamber for the reception of liquid, li uid inlet means for said chamber, said second nozzle avmg a passageway therethrough for the flow of liquid from said chamber into said annulus, said housing having another portion closing said annulus at its end opposite to said outlet. 

